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⦁ the contractor can manage the cost by running estimates throughout the entire design process.
⦁ this method incentivizes innovation.
⦁ there is the potential for zero change orders.
Challenges
⦁ this method is not traditional and requires a trust-based and collaborative team to succeed.
⦁ the contractor and architect typically spend more time competing to win the contract in this delivery, which costs more money (as discussed in chapter 3).
⦁ this method is not accepted by any public agencies yet.
Note:
BIM in Integrated Project Delivery, similar to Design‐Build, presents the same opportunities to fully leverage BIM. However, the incentivized program may create a more innovative team—a group open to research and development (R&D) and thinking outside the comfort zone of proven tools.BIM Addenda (Contracts)
the Mcgraw-hill Multi-Year Trend Analysis from 2007 to 2012 showed that BiM adoption in north america grew from 28 percent in 2007 to 71 percent in 2012.
this “BiM boom” was a global trend, and as it started to grow in popularity, many questions were raised among aec members. Dwight larson and Kate golden define the various questions raised by the industry in their article “entering the Brave, new World: an introduction to contracting for Building information Modeling” (William Mitchell, Law Review [34:1], available at http://open.wmitchell.edu/cgi/viewcontent .cgi?article=1234&context=wmlr):
Does it alter the traditional allocation of responsibility and liability exposure among owners, designers, contractors, and suppliers? What are the risks of sharing digital models with other parties? Does the party managing the modeling process assume any additional liability exposure? What risks arise from potential interoperability of the various BIM software platforms in use?
How should intellectual property rights be addressed? What risks arise for the party taking responsibility for establishing and maintaining the networked file-sharing site used as a depository for models? How might BIM alter the set of post-construction deliverables on a project, and what are the implications of the changes? And, perhaps most importantly, how can the project contracts enhance rather than limit the benefits to be gained through the use of BIM?
in response to these questions, a number of professional societies began to develop addenda to their existing contracts to protect a party’s risk, standardize
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execution, and define responsibilities of team members on projects with BiM requirements. an addendum is an additional obligation that is outside the main contract. the three major agencies involved in creating these addenda were the american institute of architects (aia), associated general contractors of america (agc), and the Design-Build institute of america (DBia).
these addenda provide owners, architects, and contractors with a template for developing a project-specific BiM addendum (table 2.2). however, this requires that the parties entering the agreement have a thorough understanding of model level of development (loD), model uses, model sharing, and ownership privileges. although this is fine for an experienced BiM team, it can be difficult for a team new to BiM to spell out at the beginning of a project what challenges they are anticipating.
▶ Table 2.2 Addenda comparison chart
Contract AIA E202 ConsensusDocs 301 DBIA E‐BIMWD AIA E203
Created 2008 2008 2010 2013
Default Lead Architect Owner Design‐Builder Architect
General Provisions No Yes Yes Yes
Standard Definitions Yes Yes Yes Yes
Information Manager Roles and
Responsibilities Yes Yes Yes Yes
LOD Matrix Yes No No Yes
Intellectual Property Rights No Yes Yes Yes
Model Reliance Risk No Yes No Yes
Information Exchange Protocols No Yes No Yes (G201)
BIM Plan Protocol No Yes No Yes (G202)
it is best for users to either consult with a professional peer who has entered into a similar agreement or bring on a BiM project consultant to help the parties define the best way to distribute roles and responsibilities among the project teams before entering a BiM contract. this approach will streamline the process significantly and can provide valuable insight to avoid potential pitfalls. if neither of these options is available, consult with your legal counsel about the contract language, with a focus on integrating BiM and the project team and clearly defining these roles. as this book will show, BiM is most effective when used as part of an integrated effort among all members of the project team. this is particularly evident during project planning when it is being determined when and how BiM is to be used, shared, and analyzed.
Note:
Each agency has their own BIM‐specific addendum, so we’ll focus on those addenda in order to highlight the consistencies and inconsistencies of each one.■ BiM aDDenDa (contractS)
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AIA: Document E202
the e202 was created by the aia in 2008 and is one of the first addendum templates released for BiM. it is a simple, architect-focused document broken up into four sections: general provisions, protocol, level of development, and model elements.
Note:
The “Level of Development” (LOD) and “Model Elements” sections make up what is known as the “LOD Matrix” shown in Figure 2.12.this document is arguably the first version of the current BiM execution plan, which we’ll discuss later in this chapter. its simplicity has allowed the aec industry to grasp some key aspects that need to be defined when using BiM on a project. however, this document is deficient in describing intellectual property rights.
AGC: ConsensusDocs 301
around the same time the aia was developing the e202, a number of other entities—
including owners, architects, engineers, general contractors, subcontractors, manufacturers, and lawyers—were developing the consensusDocs 301. this document was created to be a broad consensus agreement between multiple parties on projects using BiM technologies as opposed to the aia e202, which was developed and written with a singular emphasis on the architect, stating “architect shall ” throughout the document.
the consensusDocs 301 has a format similar to that of the e202, but its contractual language and protections are more robust. also, because this document is a consensus agreement, it encourages more of a team approach to leverage BiM technology with responsible data sharing and collaboration to minimize the chances of finger-pointing and/or litigation. Furthermore, having the owner as the default lead creates a neutral party to manage the delegations. the document is broken down into six sections: general principles, definitions, information management, BiM execution plan, risk allocation, and intellectual property rights. this document has more contractual protection than the e202, but it lacks the loD matrix.
you can find the consensusDocs 301 on the agc’s website (www.agc.org/cs/
contracts).
DBIA: Document E-BIMWD
the e-BiMWD is designed specifically for Design-Build projects and should be used in conjunction with the other Design-Build contracts. the e-BiMWD is based on the e202 and consensusDocs, so it has a similar format. however, it may seem as if it has several gaps compared to the consensusDocs, but this is intentional. in a phone conversation with robynne thaxton Parkinson, who created the first draft of this document, she stated: “the design-build philosophy when it comes to contracts is less
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is more,” meaning that there shouldn’t be redundant language in the BiM addendum and the actual governing contract. the e-BiMWD is supposed to be a “guided conversation” to help the team decide on the uses as opposed to prescribing the uses.
the e-BiMWD addresses how the addendum is used with the other DB contracts, discusses major concerns for sharing intellectual property, and briefly describes the information manager’s responsibility to manage files during the BiM process.
this document is available upon request. For information on requesting a copy, visit https://www.dbia.org/resource-center/Pages/Contracts.aspx.
AIA: Document E203
the aia e203, released in 2013, is a complete overhaul of the e202 in its format and content.
the format changes made in the e203 are the separation of the contractual obligations that stay consistent on projects (general provisions, definitions, and roles and responsibilities) and the project-specific items that are modified on every project (project personnel, model origin, information exchange). this was achieved by adding two documents used in conjunction with the e203 exhibit. these two documents are called the g201 – 2013, Project Digital Data Protocol Form and the g202 – 2013, Project Building information Modeling Protocol Form. the purpose for this separation is to allow teams to identify the global expectations of BiM at the outset of a project with the exhibit e203. this gives the team members a general understanding of what is expected of them prior to being brought onto the job, whether that’s for determining the appropriate experience required, pricing scope of work, or both. once team members are brought on board, the specific approach for information exchange and BiM protocols will be defined and agreed upon through the g201 and g202, similar to a BiM execution plan (discussed later in this chapter).
the general provisions now provide a section that allows team members to notify the other participants if the g201 and/or g202 added additional scope to their services.
this is an important clause, because the uses for BiM are not fully defined when the initial e203 exhibit is distributed. also, an additional section was added to further define the transmission and ownership of digital data, which was only briefly mentioned in the e202. lastly, language about the risk of relying on the model was added to specify whether or not model content shared by one participant can be relied on by another.
the e203, g201, and g202 documents can be found on the aia’s website (http://www.aia.org/aiaucmp/groups/aia/documents/pdf/aiab099084.pdf).
Contracts Summary
looking at table 2.2, you might assume that the aia e203 is the best addendum to use because it has “yes” all the way down the columns. it’s important to understand that any of these addenda can be used. they’re a starting point, and depending on the delivery method, experience of the team, and the desired uses of BiM, each is relevant and has its
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place. the intention of an addendum is not to point fingers if something goes wrong but rather to clearly define the tasks, responsibilities, and rights at the onset of a project. Unless contract language is defined before creating, using, or transferring BiM technologies into a project, no team members can be held responsible for delivering on their intended goals.